Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (film) - Development

Development

Author Roald Dahl hated the 1971 film adaptation and refused the producers the film rights to make the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Warner Bros. and Brillstein-Grey Entertainment entered discussions with the Dahl estate in 1991, hoping to purchase the rights to make another film adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The purchase was finalized in 1998, with Dahl's widow, Liccy, and daughter, Lucy, receiving total artistic control and final privilege on the choices of actors, directors and writers. The Dahl Estate's subsequent protection of the source material was the principal reason that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory languished in development hell since the 1990s.

Scott Frank was hired to write the screenplay in February 1999 with the intention of making it closer to the book, in contrast to the 1971 film. Nicolas Cage was under discussions for Willy Wonka, but lost interest. Gary Ross signed to direct in February 2000, which resulted in Frank completing two drafts of the screenplay before leaving with Ross in September 2001. Both Warner Bros. and the Dahl Estate wanted Frank to stay on the project, but he faced scheduling conflicts and contractual obligations with Minority Report (2002) and The Lookout (2007).

Rob Minkoff entered negotiations to take the director's position in October 2001, and Gwyn Lurie was hired to start from scratch on a new script in February 2002. "I'm going to work straight from the original book and ignore the original movie," the writer said. Dahl's estate championed Lurie after being impressed with her work on another Dahl adaptation, The BFG, for Paramount Pictures (which distributed the earlier 1971 film version of Charlie, and later sold the rights to WB). In April 2002, Martin Scorsese was involved with the film, albeit briefly, but opted to direct The Aviator instead. Warner Bros. president Alan F. Horn wanted Tom Shadyac to direct Jim Carrey as Willy Wonka, believing the duo could make Charlie and the Chocolate Factory relevant to mainstream audiences, but Liccy Dahl opposed this.

After reaching enthusiastic approval from the Dahl Estate, Warner Bros. hired Tim Burton to direct in May 2003. "It was a bit like the situation on Batman (1989)," Burton reflected. "Warner's had the project for a long time, you could see all the different stabs at it. I felt that Scott Frank's version was the best, probably the clearest, and the most interesting, but they had abandoned that." Liccy Dahl commented that Burton was the first and only director the estate was happy with. He had previously produced another of the author's adaptations with James and the Giant Peach (1996), and, like Roald and Liccy, disliked the 1971 film because it strayed from the book's storyline.

"As a child, Dahl was the author who I connected to the most. He got the idea of writing a mixture of light and darkness, and not speaking down to kids, and the kind of politically incorrect humor that kids get. I've always liked that, and it's shaped everything I've felt that I've done."

During pre-production Burton visited Dahl's former home in the Buckinghamshire village of Great Missenden. Liccy Dahl remembers Burton entering Dahl's famed writing shed and saying, "This is the Buckets' house!" and thinking to herself, "Thank God, somebody gets it." Liccy also showed Burton the original handwritten manuscripts. "They were incredible. Roald Dahl was even more politically incorrect than what ended up in the book. Originally," Burton explained, "he had five other kids; he had a kid named Herpes in it." Burton immediately thought of Johnny Depp for the role of Willy Wonka, who joined the following August for his fourth collaboration with the director.

Lurie's script received a rewrite by Pamela Pettler, who worked with Burton on Corpse Bride, but the director hired Big Fish screenwriter John August in December 2003 to start from scratch. Both August and Burton were fans of the book since their childhoods. August first read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when he was eight years old, and subsequently sent Dahl a fan letter. He did not see the 1971 film prior to his hiring, which Burton believed would be fundamental in having August stay closer to the book. The writer updated the Mike Teavee character into an obsessive video game player, as compared to the novel, in which he fantasized with violent crime films. The characters Arthur Slugworth and Prodnose were reduced to brief cameo appearances, while Mr. Beauregarde was entirely omitted.

Burton and August also worked together in creating Wilbur Wonka, Willy's domineering dentist father. "You want a little bit of the flavor of why Wonka is the way he is," Burton reasoned. "Otherwise, what is he? He's just a weird guy." The element of an estranged father-son relationship had previously appeared in Big Fish, similarly directed by Burton and written by August. Warner Bros. and the director held differences over the characterizations of Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka. The studio wanted to entirely delete Mr. Bucket and make Willy Wonka the idyllic father figure Charlie had longed for his entire life. Burton believed that Wonka would not be a good father, finding the character similar to a recluse. "In some ways," Burton protested, "he's more screwed up than the kids." Warner Bros. also wanted Charlie to be a whiz kid, but Burton reasoned that "Charlie should be like 90% of us, kids in school who disappear into the background and keep out of trouble."

Prior to Burton's involvement, Warner Bros. considered or discussed Willy Wonka with Nicolas Cage, Jim Carrey, Michael Keaton, Brad Pitt, Will Smith and Adam Sandler. Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, however, stayed on to co-finance the film with Warner Bros. Johnny Depp was the only actor Burton considered for the role, who signed on without reading the script under the intention of going with a completely different approach than what Gene Wilder did in the 1971 film adaptation. "Regardless of what one thinks of that film," Depp explained, "Gene Wilder's persona, his character, stands out."

Depp and Burton based Willy Wonka from children's television show hosts such as Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo), Fred Rogers and Al Lewis from The Uncle Al Show. Depp also took inspiration from various game show hosts. "Even when I was a child I thought these characters were weird," Burton reflected. "You think back and go, 'What the fuck was that?' But they left a strong impression on you. It was kind of a strange amalgamation of these weird children's TV show hosts." Depp based Wonka's look (over-exaggerated bob cut and sunglasses) on Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour.

Comparisons were drawn between Willy Wonka and Michael Jackson. Burton joked, "Here's the deal. There's a big difference: Michael Jackson likes children, Willy Wonka can't stand them. To me that's a huge difference." Depp explained that the similarities with Jackson never occurred to him. "I say if there was anyone you'd want to compare Wonka to it would be a Howard Hughes, almost. Reclusive, germaphobe, controlling." Burton agreed with the Hughes similarities, and additionally supplied Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane as inspiration. "Somebody who was brilliant but then was traumatized and then retreats into their own world." Depp wanted to sport prosthetic makeup for the part and have a long, elongated nose, but Burton believed it would be too outrageous. During production, Gene Wilder, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, accused the filmmakers of only remaking the 1971 film for the purpose of money. Depp said he was disappointed by Wilder's comment, and reminded that the film was not a remake, but another adaptation of Dahl's 1964 book.

The casting calls for Charlie Bucket, Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, and Violet Beauregarde took place in the United States and United Kingdom, while Augustus Gloop's casting took place in Germany. "I tried to find kids who had something of the character in them. Mike Teavee was the hardest," Burton explained, "that took the longest, I don't know why." Burton was finding trouble casting Charlie, until Depp, who worked with Freddie Highmore on Finding Neverland, suggested Highmore for the part. Highmore had already read the book before, but decided to read it once more prior to auditioning. "I hadn't seen the original movie before doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the actor explained. "I thought it was better to wait until afterwards because I thought I ought to create my Charlie on my own. I think the original film is good, but I think it's better now because Charlie is kept more pure."